Storyboarding

You’re going to think your story through in one of two ways: before you shoot or while you shoot. We spent most of our years doing the latter. Sweating the details in the middle of a shoot when we’re tired and hungry only to end up being more tired and hungrier, but without the one shot we needed to tie everything together.

We got pretty sick of being in this situation, so less than a year ago, we gave storyboarding a try. I know, everyone has been storyboarding for decades, but I always thought that it’s just extra work, I can’t draw that well and who even uses pencils anymore? It turns out there’s a really good reason that everyone has been doing it.

Storyboarding proves that our idea works before we’re on set. Yes it’s more work but it makes shooting and editing the easy part. You can be completely confident with every scene and shot you capture. Another huge benefit is that you are so prepared on set that you don’t come off like an idiot jerk director anymore! I hate that feeling of everyone waiting on me to decide how to setup the next scene while I’m in the corner questioning if the next scene is even necessary! Storyboarding helps me get my junk together and I like that. I use Penultimate with a stylus on an iPad to storyboard, by the way.

Here’s our storyboard and final video from the Santa Claus Is Coming to Town piece of our Christmas 2012 services.